Firstly, a disclaimer: I wasn't planning on starting this AAR at all, but since Michael started his own, I thought it would be fun to offer both sides of the story. Unfortunately luck of time will be limiting the scope and detail level of this AAR, so I will try to be as brief as I am able. I won't be posting long combat reports, but I will rather try to describe events through this ability I have, which allows me to put one word next to another and form sentences and paragraphs.[:D] Also, I lost all files relating to December events, so even if asked to post a combat report from that month, I won't be able to produce it. I will have to rely on memory and hopefully Michael has provided enough combat reports to answer most questions about that month's activity.

Game date is April 29. I will cover events up to this date very briefly. Then I will try to stay current with the game, as much as time permits me. As you can probably surmise from Michael's AAR title, I have invaded Australia! But let's start from the beginning…

Pearl Harbor: I can't post the actual combat report, but I can tell you that it wasn't the most successful Pearl Harbor attack ever. The strike was weakened, because I split CV Kaga from the Kido Buttai. Only Nevada was sunk outright, only ~25 planes destroyed on the ground. All other BBs were severely damaged, but no CAs or DDs, as far as I can remember. The weak results prompted me to launch a second strike on the 8th, but all it accomplished was a few more dead pilots for minimal returns. Later I got reports that Arizona was also sunk in March, east of Pearl Harbor. One of my subs also caught the Maryland while trying to get back to the West Coast and put her out of the misery. Three BBs in total are gone for the allies.

Western DEI offensive: By taking advantage of the existing “magical TFs”, I did a lot of reshuffling and merging in the first turn. I sent Kaga to the SRA. She merged with Ryujo, the other CVLs and CVEs starting in the Home islands, two BBs, two CAs and lots of DDs, to form a Kido Buttai 2 in the SRA. The goal here was to destroy Forze Z, if it tried to intervene with my Malaya landings (it didn't), and assist landings on Mersing, Singawang and Palembang. All relevant forces rendezvoused at hex 57, 42 (7 hexes east of Mersing).

Malaya: The 18th Division landed in northern Malaya, while the main body of 25. Army (5 & 56 Divs) landed on Mersing on December 8. My LRCAP was strong enough to fend off the allied naval strikes and destroy most of their torpedo bombers here. In the end, the Mersing Gambit failed in its goal to trap a large part of III Indian Corps north of Singapore. A one day delay meant that the 11th Ind.Div managed to make its way south and only the 9th Ind.Div was cut off, which probably would have happened anyway, Mersing gambit or not. So, I waited for the Imperial & 38th Divisions to arrive from Hong Kong and Thailand respectively, to cross the river. I dropped the forts but a second attack was required. Singapore fell on January 31.

Sumatra: I landed in Northwest Borneo 3 days after the Mersing invasion. No allied interference. With Singawang based LRCAP and KB2, landing at Palembang was a relatively straightforward affair. 200 AV were enough to take the base on December 15.

Eastern DEI: My offensive here was launch after Palembang was secured and KB2 transferred to the area. I wanted every move I make to be covered. With hindsight, such caution wasn't really needed, since Michael was conducting a withdrawal almost everywhere, with a view to force preservation. I was somewhat delayed at Ambon and Balikpapan though. There was a brief encounter with the Dutch surface fleet, which ended inconclusively. After Ambon fell, an invasion flotilla carrying the 21st Division landed at Darwin. The allied CD guns caused some trouble there. My ground troops suffered great disruption and consequently were unable to destroy the allied garrison (some 200 AV). I sent the 4th Division from SE Fleet to reinforce. Darwin was taken late Dec-early Jan, iirc. The rest of North Australia was captured by small forces.

Luzon: Again, I took advantage of the “magical TFs” to land the entirety of 14. Army on Luzon on December 7. One Philippine division was trashed at Lingayen, another one at Iba and another one was cut off at San Fernando. But soon it became clear that blitzing Luzon was unnecessary, as things settled down into a normal siege in Manila. I had around 1200 AV versus 1600 allied. I bombed the hell out of the airfield and supplies were down to 0 by early March I think. I bought two divisions from the Kwantung Army (14th & 23rd) to relieve the 14 Army. As of April 29, I have launched no deliberate attacks whatsoever, but the allied forces are so low in supplies, that I was able to reduce their total AV by almost 400 points in the last month or so, solely by artillery bombardments. It’s 1100 vs 1200 now. Soon I will start thinking about a deliberate attack.

China, Burma, Java and the Pacific theater will be analyzed in the next post (with screenshots).

Java: Michael, chose to defend in Batavia, but also left a small force in the mountains of Malang. I landed at Semarang with the 16th Army in early January. Soerebaja fell easily. After Singapore fell, I reinforced with the Imperial Division. But Batavia wouldn’t fall. I launched a deliberate attack, which didn’t even manage to drop the forts. It was late February and I needed to gather all available land forces at Rabaul for the Invasion of Australia. In hindsight, I should have sent the entire 25th Army to Java, the moment Singapore fell… Batavia is still held by the Dutch to this day. The 16th Army is tied down there.

Burma: Michael, pretty much surrendered Burma to me without a fight. He formed the 1st Burm.Div from its sub-units and we are now locked in a stalemate one hex north of Katha. The 15th Army is unable to beat the enemy and the monsoon season is approaching. [image]http://i49.tinypic.com/t6fj9v.jpg[/image]

China: Stalemate. I took Nanyang and the plains east of it (Loyang, Chengchow), causing some losses, but an early offensive via the northern road (Tsiaotso) towards Sian was repelled by the Chinese. I am now in the middle of an attritional battle south of Sian and Ankang. I am causing squad disablements to both sides, but at this stage I am content to engage the Chinese army in an attritional battle, to cause it to spend its limited supply stockpile and draw his reserved in this area. I have extracted an additional 3 divisions and 4 brigades from all over the front (mostly from the center and the south) to form another small spearhead, which will be unleashed in May. [image]http://i48.tinypic.com/14vmhk0.jpg[/image]

5th Fleet: I landed on Adak Island on day one. Amchitka was invaded in the second week of the war, but Michael sent his carriers up here, following a SigInt warning, and completely destroyed the invasion force. Thankfully, my troops were already ashore and Amchitka was taken. I lost 2 DDs, 2 APD a few TBs and DMSs and 5-10 transports, iirc. Bummer…

Southeast Fleet: I bought the Guards Brigade, the 90th Infantry Regiment and I sent the 4th Division to this theater. Rabaul and Port Moresby fell in the late December, without much resistance offered by Michael. Rather than continuing south towards New Caledonia, I dispatched 4 Div to Darwin. After Darwin fell, I left 4 div there and sent 21 Div to invade New Caledonia. KB was escorting the invasion force, but I had no surface cover. My Glen-equipped subs spotted the allied CVs some 16-18 hexes southeast of Numea. 3 BBs were also spotted. As I had no heavy surface cover (only 4 cruisers a 4 destroyers were sent), I retreated KB and the invasion flotilla, before the 21 Div could be unloaded entirely. However, the allied garrison was so weak, that my 250 AV were enough to capture Numea. At the same time, Luganville, Ndeni, Efate and Tanna were taken by SNFL units.

Before the actual invasion occurred, I spent about a month in preparation and gathering my forces, fuel and supplies at Rabaul. I tried to flood his SigInt with conflicting reports, by sending my troop transports to Trincomalee and Chittagong, with waypoints to Rabaul. Most of my forces were preparing for India. I don't know how successful I was in deceiving Michael though; you have to read his AAR to get an answer…

Reserves (to land on NE Oz a week after the main body is succesful): 4th Div, 65th Bde, Guards Mixed Bde

Naval-Air Forces: Kido Buttai (5 CVs), along with most of IJN surface forces 21st and 23rd Air Flotillas, 4th Air Div, Containing some 800 aircraft (excluding KB). 100.000 tons of supplies and 80.000 of fuel stockpiled at Rabaul.

The 25th Army has only two of its divisions available for the invasion, instead of four. Following my failure to capture Batavia, the Imperial Division will reinforce the Western Oz Invasion. The 56th Div will also stay behind to defend Sumatra.

Naval-Air forces: KB2 (Kaga, plus the light carriers) 5th Air Div, elements of the 21st Air Flotilla 500 aircraft in total. 50.000 tons of supplies in Java, lots of fuel in the DEI

'42 strategy: My plan from the beginning was to invade Australia and conduct a strategic bombing campaign, without triggering the emergency reinforcements. I identified Rockhapton as my primary landing site, with Bundaberg and Maryborough also being secondary targets. Taking New Caledonia made this invasion a lot easier. The final objective is to occupy and defend a line between Brisbane and Port Augusta, from which I can bomb all major allied airfields in SW Australia. At the same time, I will try to blockade Australia with subs, Netties, light surface forces and, if necessary, Kido Buttai. When/if the Australian industry is no longer producing supplies and the aircraft factories destroyed, I will start attacking allied airfields to burn their supplies. If I succeed, I will then contemplate launching a land offensive to take the entire country.

Soon the Allies will be capable of launching a multi-divisional invasion with 5 carriers in support. I 've identified my weakest theaters to be the SRA (especially Burma, Port Blair and Sumatra) and the Pacific (the Kurile Islands especially). They are prioritized for reinforcements, after ground operations in Australia end, meaning the capture of the Brisbane-Port Augusta line. When that happens, I will redeploy part of the 21st Army and finish the sieges of Batavia and Manila. I will then have freed up at least 6 divisions for further offensives (I have a general idea of what they might be).

On March 27, light SNFL forces landed at Bundaberg and Maryborough. The Rockhampton invasion forces ended up one hex east of their target for some reason and they invaded on the 28th.The 754th Tank Battalion was defending Maryborough, while the 132nd and 182nd Infantry Regiments were defending Bundaberg.

On March 28, the bulk of the invasion ground forces landed at Rockhampton. The 5th Div landed at Maryborogh and repelled a deliberate attack by the 754th Tank Bn. My SNFL at Bundaberg was destroyed, but the two infantry regiments were trapped and their only escape route was to the west.

On March 29, the 18th Div and the 5th Guards Div landed at Bundaberg. They attacked the next day, mauling the two allied regiments and connecting my three bridgeheads.

There was no allied intervention from the air or the sea, except a few subs, which together with CD guns did manage to sink a few transports. Other than that, KB and most of IJN’s heavy assets had a pretty easy time. I soon started to march southward with my two armies in unison. I found the 5th Aus.Div at Brisbane, but just before my shock attack was launched (with 2100AV), it retreated to the south. Good job by Michael here. I then left the 5th Div and half the artillery and the air HQs at Brisbane, and with the rest of my forces turned west to Toowoomba. The puny Australians again retreated in fear before the Imperial Japanese Army fell on them with all its might. The panic was widespread. The Emperor could hear the whelping of his enemies from his heavenly abode in Tokyo and he was glad...

...I digress.

There is an allied stack just south of Toowoomba, which I am currently trying to deal with. After that stack is brushed aside, the 25th Army will be left to defend Brisbane and Toowoomba with two divisions (plus support), while the 21st Army marches to the west, as far as my fighters can reach (Burke).

Here things were more complicated than the east coast. The invasion was not as well organized or protected as I would have liked, but I gambled that Michael's strategic withdrawal in every theater so far would mean that no BBs or CVs would interfere. If they did, they could have caused serious carnage, during the early stages of the invasion.

But first, I must mention that Northern Australia had already fallen to my hands, Carnavon included. I only used very light forces to do that. When the invasion was launched Carnavon’s airfield was only lvl2, but with the 21st Air flotilla HQ there, it could provide decent air cover for my transports. 100 zeros were available, plus KB2.

My transports hit the shores of Geraldon on April 7. The invasion bonus was gone by then. Michael had foreseen the invasion and had reinforced Geraldon with the 13th and 30th Australian Brigades, plus CD guns. Again, his subs caused some damage during the unloading phase. Michael also sent a cruiser force to mess with me. I had two strong surface taskforces, one with 2 BBs, 2 CAs and 4 DDs, the other one with 2 CAs, 2 CLs and 4 DDs. Did they protect the troops transports ! Of course not! They let the enemy cruisers in and out, to unload their ammo on my poor transports at their leisure:

Luckily, the troops were already ashore (21st Inf.Rgt, 1st and 2nd Raiding Rgts). This was only the first wave though. The second wave was comprised by the Imperial Division and the 4th Guards Division. It hit the shores on April 9 and again the allied cruisers intervened. My BBs AGAIN did not angage them, but my cruisers did. Here is the result:

CA Nach was later sunk while trying to make its way to Soerebaja. I think I sunk CL Dragon and one DD. One of subs later caught CL Dauntless off Albany and sunk her. Overall though, I think losing a CA made this engagement an allied victory. KB2 did not launch a strike, as it was LRCAPing my ships from 10 hexes away...

When this was happening. The third wave was just southeast of Java (48th Div, 7th Ind.Tank Bde, 2nd and 8th Tank Rgts, plus all the artillery, air HQ and other support units).

After the 2nd wave landed at Geraldon, it mopped the floor with the two Australian brigades. The 3rd wave landed shortly afterwards and everyone is marching south, to Perth. My tanks caught the fleeing enemy just east of Perth and destroyed what was left of the Aussie brigades. In Perth itself, my recon planes show a garrison of 25.000 men, 350 guns and 150 AFVs. I won't know what's actually there until I enter the city, which will happen in two days. Albany (port 5, airfield 3) is also defended by 5000 men, probably a brigade.

I should also mention that I made two failed attempts to take Kalgoorlie and Cunderdin by para airdrops. The Kalgoorlie paras were destroyed; the Cunderdin paras were saved by my armor.

I'm reading both AAR's so I wont comment, but say thanks for your views and sharing! Always interested to hear theories on strategic planning and why Australia over India? I'm always looking at India for production and oil vs. Airbase Australia... [8D]

Hi moore4807, why Australia over India? The simple answer is that I contemplated an Indian invasion in my previous game and actually carried out a limited invasion. So, simply for variety's sake I went for Australia in this game. There are advantages and disadvantages to both avenues, imho. In Australia I saw the potential for autovictory through strategic bombing. and if the ground war goes well for me in the next month (if I capture Perth and Port Augusta), then defending my gains is cheaper, in terms of force commitment, than in India. Which leaves me with the possibility for further offensive actions in other theaters. I think that if I actually capture the Brisbane-Port Augusta line, it can be held with 4-5 divisions, against a properly blockaded and starved Australia. What that means is that in a few months I could have a strategic reserve of around 10 divisions, if everything goes according to plan (5 from Australia, 2 from Batavia, another 2 from Manila and 2 bought from Kwantung Army).

In Australia, I launched a shock attack south of Toowoomba, which failed to push back the Aussie stack, but killed lots of their armor. Michael tells me that is only the old tanks that got killed. In any case, I will wait a few days and attack again. I need this hex to gain freedom of movement and advance to the west:

In the meantime, I begun my air offensive against Sydney. Initial targets were the lvl9 airfield and the 130 aircraft stationed there, 40 of which were fighters and 60 were bombers. 75 Zeros are sweeping Sydney daily. There is no enemy CAP again, Michael stubbornly refuses to commit his airforce. Despite the lack of opposition and the abundance of aircraft to destroy on the ground, my 130+ IJA level bombers didn't manage a single kill. They did, however, completely trashed the runway (damage reached 90). Newcastle was also attacked and its airfield closed.

On April 28, Michael moved all his aircraft out of Sydney. On the 29th I launched my first raid against Australian industry, committing as many 2E bombers as my airfields can support (Brisbane lvl 7, Bundaberg lvl 5, Rockhampton lvl 5). 100 Hellens, 30 Sallies and 130 Betties attacked in two waves. The end result was that Sydney's heavy industry was reduced by 50%. Not bad for a single day. Tomorrow I will attack his manpower to see if I can cause firestorms.

I prefer India, but one advantage to Australia is that the airpower there is very poor, if the USAAF hasn't sent reinforcements. All those a/c at Sydney are probably mostly Wirraways, Buffalos, and Hudsons, because that's all the RAAF has at this stage. They start getting some Kittyhawks about now, though.

Yes, they are probably low quality aircraft I did see five P-39Ds in western Australia though, a few weeks ago. They fought with 9 Zeros over Kalgoorlie, before my failed airdrop there and achieved 1:1 loss ratio.

So far, Michael has kept his airforce and navy almost intact. He will have lots of toys to play with later on, when he decides to attack.

Air losses so far: 950 allied vs 1500 Japanese About 1100 of my losses are operational or due to enemy flak.

Naval losses: I lost 1 CA, 1 CL and 4 destroyers so far. He has probably lost 3 BBs, 5 CLs, 10 DDs and 9 subs. I have to make a comment about the allied subs, particularly the Dutch ones. Michael is employing them very efficiently I think. Basically, whenever I invade somewhere, Michael sends 2 or 3 subs and keeps them there during the unloading phase, before I set up my ASW. His subs get hit frequently in shallow waters, but he also inflicts damage to my shipping. CA Takao received a torpedo during the invasion of Gerardon (damage is 28 sys, 33 flt, but she will survive to fight another day) and I lost many minor transports, PBs and other support vessels in this way.

In China, I am trying to work my way up the road to Ankang. I attacked several times three Chinese corps' defending the road, pushed back two of them, severely mauling them, but Michael reinforced the hex with another, fresh corps and my last attack left my 5 divisions with lots of disabled squads. I will rest for a few weeks and then try again. The good thing is that I am observing lots of Chinese units moving to the threatened sector, from Sian, Inchang and north of Nanyang. I hope to draw Michael's attention to this sector, while launching another offensive through the (undefended) woods, south of Yenan, with 3 divisions and 4 brigades that I extracted from various parts of the frontline.

In Australia, I was about to launch a shock attack in the hex south of Toowoomba, defended by 2nd Aus.Div and all the Australian armor (about 600 AV in total), but they escaped to the south. I am kind of glad they retreated, because I am not sure my 1450 AV could push them back. I now have the hex and the road to the west is open. 21st Army is on the march. I'll leave 5 Div to defend that hex.

The Sydney raids continued for two days, focusing on manpower. Fires reached 21000 in the first day and rose to 50000 in the second, but today's awful weather grounded my airforce and the fires are almost extinct. I noticed that lots of industry centers are disabled (about 200 LI, 200 HI and a few resource centers and aircraft factories) without directly attacking them. Could this be an indirect effect of the fires? I was expecting destroyed factories, not disabled ones. Tomorrow, weather permitting, I will focus on Sydnay's HI. No more manpower raids for a while...

Hi Olorin, I'm reading with interest your AAR. I read in the forum that factories are permanently destroyed only by FIRESTORMS not by simple fires!I! It seems ineded hat nobody in the forum knows exactly when the fires become a firestorm. I'm wondering how do you plan to interdict Aliied resupplying of Australia; all the south coast seems not controlled by your patrols, enemyTF could pass under NZ without being spotted. Don't you think that Allied can reinforce the garrison during your strategic bombing and you'll be involved in an attrition war?

It's May 7 and the most notable thing that happened is that I spotted a huge convoy south of Tazmania heading to Melbourne, escorted by multiple CVs! Lots of tankers and APs are reported. I have about 30 subs in the area , one of them intercepted the convoy and launch a torpedo against Indomitable. It was a dud! Damn it... Tomorrow the allied convoy will reach Melbourne and unload its contents there.

I have about 10 destroyers and 5 cruisers at Brisbane, but I hesitate to send them all the way down to Melbourne. I frequently send KB down there, but so far I found nothing. I have 18 Mavis' at Lord Howe island and this is the first convoy spotted since I landed there. While, I want Australia blockaded, it's good that Michael commits CVs as convoy escorts. It will create opportunities to intercept them in the future. Until Port Augusta is captured, these convoys will reach Melbourne, when escorted by CVs, unless I intercept them with KB.

In the meantime...the Sydney raids have become a daily routine, but their effectiveness is slowly worsening. Some 60 HI and 400 LI remain intact, I will keep bombing them until they reach 0.

As for Firestorms...Fires reached 50000 at one point and lots of industry was disabled but not destroyed. I don't know how it's done and I don't think anyone else knows either. Perhaps Japanese 2E bombers are not capable of causing firestorms.

Perth: No deliberate attacks yet. I received the Guards Tank Div as a reinforcement recently, it's heading to Perth. Soon I will have 1800 AV there.

Manila: In two days, the first deliberate attack will be launched. My command HQ will reach 100 preparation by then. allied AV is down to 1100, equal to mine.

Kuriles: The first garrisons are transfered there. I will soon have 300 AV split between Etorofu, Shimushiro-jima and Paramushiro-jima. Forts are building up nicely.

Since my last update, I attacked Manila and Perth for the first time. Both attacks are promising. I got a favorable die roll at Perth, the allied defense should have been stronger, but I can't complain.

After a few days of rest, I'll attack again. I hope to finish both sieges by the end of May. Batavia will then follow shortly, at which point I 'll have freed up 8 divisions. I plan to buy another division from Kwantung Army to send to New Caledonia, which is currently defended by 21 Div. When that transfer is complete, the SE Fleet will have a sizable reserve, consisting of 4 & 21 Divs, plus Guards Bde and 91.Inf-Rgt (1300 AV in total). I am considering trowing them against Suva and Pago-Pago. I will scout the ground ahead and if the allied garrisons are deemed to be beatable, I will launch the operation.

Meanwhile, Indomitable and co are spotted at Adelaide. KB2 is escorting the Guards Tank Div to Geraldon (will land tomorrow). Junyo just arrived at Soerebaja.

The armor of 21st Army (300 AV) arrived at Burke. 15 allied units are there, but they are all light, support units. They should be beaten back with ease. The infantry (1000 AV) is 4-5 days behind.

I stopped the Sydney raids for a few days, as I seem to hit a threshold of diminishing returns, in terms of disabled factories. I will raid Newcastle soon.

Olorin -> Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A) (9/30/2012 1:19:55 PM)

May 19, 1942

Australia: At Bourke, I am still waiting for the infantry to arrive. Just one day away. After that, we'll see if Michael withdraws his armor to the south. I hope he stays.

Newcastle is visited by 100 IJA bombers, about 20 HI is disabled. Not as good as I expected.

Perth... I attacked twice since my last update. Both attacks dropped the forts, but the 18th UK Div appears to be untouched. One of my divisions "lost" about 65 infantry squads. The Guards Tank Division just arrived at Cunderlin by train(or whatever that base just east of Perth is spelled). Kalgorlie and Albany contain sizable garrisons. Especially the latter is allegedly defended by some 18.000 allied troops, 150 guns and 150 AFVs. I am not worried, it can easily be flanked and a withdrawal be forced. I' ll deal with it, once Perth is mine.

Luzon: Still working on Manila. Forts are lvl 1, but the allies won't surrender yet. A few more attacks and the place will be mine.

Burma: We entered the Monsoon period, therefore no combat is allowed to take place, according to a house rule we have. Only movement and bombardment are allowed. I pulled the 33rd Division back to Mandalay. Only 250 AV are facing the 1st Burm.Div, just north of Katha.

After this victory, I decided to promote Yamashita and place all the IJA forces in eastern Australia under his command. A new, ad-hoc HQ is created, the Yamashita Area Army. The road to Broken Hill is open. The 21st Army will leave a few light forces at Bourke and advance with the rest of its forces to Broken Hill. Speaking of Broken Hill, recon showed it was empty on May 19. I airdropped Yokosuka 1st SNFL, only to find that a RAAF base force was transfered over the night. The subsequent shock attack failed. On May 20. I airdropped Yokosuka 3rd SNFL, but Michael manage to bring reinforcements during the night, in the form of 6th Aus.Cav.Bde. Now I have two para units stuck there, waiting to be rescued by Yamashita's advance. I 've been unlucky with my airdrops so far.[:(]

In other news, Michael's ASW efforts are intensified in the waters south of Australia and around Tasmania. Many of my subs are spotted and I have to change positions frequently. I suspect another big convoy passed through. Allied carriers are still spotted at Adelaide.

Luzon: The troops have just started boarding on ships. Destination: Batavia.

Eastern Australia: Air raids on Newcastle. HI is reduced to 20. Fires reach 25000. I will continue targeting manpower. The allied flak at Newcastle is far weaker than at Sydney at the moment.

Kido Buttai: KB is going to raid Melbourne soon, in conjunction with KB2, but I sent it the long way around. From Rabaul, through the Timor Sea, Exmouth, Perth, Melbourne. Of course it will stay well outside the allied search arcs. I hope to achieve surprise and sink the allied shipping that dared to venture to Southern Australia. A CV is spotted there, among many DDs, possibly cruisers as well, and lots of transport ships. KB is currently at Port Hedland awaiting refueling. KB2 is off Carnavon, CV Junyo included. So it will be at least 10 days to reach their destinations.

The 18th British Division is destroyed, along with two Australian militia brigades. My own forces suffer only light damage.

I still need to mop up the rest of western Australia, i.e Albany, Esperanza and Kalgoorlie, which has a sizable garrison. Already, I am preparing for an invasion of Port Augusta. It's going to be hard, because it's probably expected, but combined with my ongoing land offensive and the KB preparatory raid, Michael will find it difficult to keep Port Augusta, unless he reinforces Australia. Once Port Augusta is captured, Adelaide, Melbourne and the rest of southern Australia will be within the range of the IJA bombers.

Great defeat in the sky over Newcastle. I paid for my complacency...[:@]

When I started this air campaign, I was able to send two massive raids per turn, one IJAAF and one IJNAF, about 150 aircraft each. But in the last few turns, my raids became very incremental and my sweeps went in last. Michael saw this and decided to employ his fighters today. Close to 110 allied fighters were on CAP duty over Newcastle and another 48 over Tamworth. Needless to say, they cut to pieces my unescorted bombers, as they came in piece meal. WTF! My sweeping Zeros managed to shot down 10+ allied fighters in the afternoon, but it was too little, too late.

I feel your pain...Beware now that as the allies start to get a lot of "aces", they become deadly even with inferior a/c...your only strategy now is to sweep them to oblivion.... use sheer numbers and dry their pools... no other choices imho

What e blow [X(] Do you still plan to land at port augusta now? With this air numbers and with your bombers pool run dry the strategic bombing campaign maybe has lost sense, what are you plannin to do now?

What e blow [X(] Do you still plan to land at port augusta now? With this air numbers and with your bombers pool run dry the strategic bombing campaign maybe has lost sense, what are you plannin to do now?

I am still recovering from the shock. However, thinking about it more cooly now, it was just a temporary setback. Yes, I lost 210 aircraft and more than 100 pilots. BUT...I had sent most of the veteran pilots to the reserve pool already. I still have around 100 veteran IJN bomber pilots in reserve. Also, my air groups are rebuilding strength and morale quickly. I estimate they will be back to full strength and morale in about 10 days, at current production rates:

(IJN bombers) - 2 G4M1s and 2 G3M3s per turn and still have 70 G3M2s in my pool. (IJA bombers) - 2 Ki-21-IIa and 4 Ki-49-Ias per turn. I've exhausted their pools but the damaged air groups are now about 80% strength.

At present, I have about 80 Zeros and 30 Oscars LRCAPing my advance to Broken Hill. The Port Augusta invasion is still a go, but first I must clear Kalgoorlie, which is defended by the 4rth Aus.Div. I am sending the Guards Tank Div, the 7th Ind.Tank Bde, plus two tank regiments there. I will threaten encirclement and hope that Michael will evacuate. If he doesn't, it will delay me for a week or two.

KB+KB2 are 15 hexes southwest of Albany. The bad news is that the allied carriers and cruisers appear to have left southern Australia. There is a big AP convoy unloading something at Adelaide.

You can try sweeping, but I would bet he will stand down his fighters and wait for another opportunity to strike. He knows he doesn't have numbers, so all he can do is surprise you and then move on. You're going to need to lay a trap for him ... and tough to do as he will be looking for it ... GOOD LUCK!!

Thanks, Pax! I tried sweeping the day after the debacle, but it was done only with one low-marale zero group. I lost 10, he lost 5. Since then I 'm using my fighters to LRCAP my tanks near Broken Hill. Michael still has about 270 between Sydney, Newcastle and Tamworth. I wonder how many fighters has left in Melbourne, Adelaide or Wellington for that matter.

I feel your pain...Beware now that as the allies start to get a lot of "aces", they become deadly even with inferior a/c...your only strategy now is to sweep them to oblivion.... use sheer numbers and dry their pools... no other choices imho

Hey Greyjoy, I will try to post some screenshots of my economy when I get the time, just to compare our two economies and find a solution.